The device as disclosed herein is a modular device for holding and cutting sheet goods, and more particularly is an inexpensive support rack that can be taken down for transport between job sites or storage and reassembled at a job site to support a standard sized sheet of sheet goods for accurate cutting to a desired size for use.
The classification of sheet goods generally includes manufactured wood products that are produced and sold in sheets such as plywood, particle board, chip board, oriented strand board, medium density fiberboard (MDF), and other forms of wood products preformed into sheets. Sheet goods, which may also include drywall, are generally sold in sheets that are four feet by eight feet and or a designated thickness, although the size can vary.
Regardless of the exact size of the sheet goods being used, problems persist. Full sheets regularly need to be cut for use. Typically, the goods are laid flat, e.g. horizontal, and the worker is required to stretch over the sheet. For instance, the cuts can be as long as the sheet, typically eight feet, requiring the worker to either stretch and have very long arms, make multiple cuts or somehow walk along the length of the goods while cutting. Workers often find it very difficult to cut at the exact place over an extended length of the cut. While electrically powered saws make the cutting relatively easy, they do little to help the accuracy and precision of the cut.
Various permanent jigs and appliances are available for use in established shops. Frequently, the sheet goods are cut using a table saw. However, the use of a table saw requires that the table saw have a large table to support the sheet, space around the table saw to move the sheet through, and that the operator lift the sheet onto the table and uniformly move the sheet through the saw blade. While this method of cutting sheet goods works quite well in an established shop, it cannot be done in the field or in a private home.
An alternative method of cutting sheets in a shop is the use of a special holding stand wherein the sheet is mounted on the stand and a track mounted saw is used to cut the sheet goods. Cutting stands of this class have been very good, but, very expensive and as such are ordinarily only used where numerous sheets must be cut on a daily basis, such as a shop manufacturing cabinets. Unless the cutting stand is being fully utilized, it is cost prohibitive to acquire.
In the prior art, when sheet goods must be cut in the field, they are cut by placing the sheet on some form of horizontal support, such as saw horses, and using a portable circular saw to cut the sheet goods. While this method does work, it is often difficult to accurately mark the cut line and even more difficult to follow the marked line. In some uses, the variance of a fraction of an inch in the cut doesn't matter or is hidden. Here the problem may not be not as great, although the stretching with power tools in operation raises safety concerns.
In other uses, it is necessary to have the cut made exactly and the cut to be straight. This creates the problem where the worker cutting the sheet of sheet goods must be very careful and particular when cutting or risk either wasting a sheet or having to spend additional time to correct the inconsistencies in the previously cut edge. This simply is not efficient.
One attempt to provide for accurate cutting of sheet goods in the field has been to use a straight piece of lumber as a straightedge to guide the cut. While this method does work, it still requires that the user place the sheet of sheet goods onto some sort of cutting stand for support and then secure the straight piece of lumber to the sheet to guide the saw for cutting. A user cannot simply hold the straightedge lumber when making a cut of four or eight feet to cut the sheet of sheet goods. The straightedge must be secured by either an assistant or being clamped. This takes time and is inefficient. Moreover, clamps tend to operate against a surface of the sheet and may cause damage thereto.
What is needed is a portable cutting stand, which is easy to assemble and disassemble, allowing easy transport. Preferably the design should have a minimum of parts and take advantage of materials already available on the job site. The clamp of the guide should further operate against an edge of the sheet goods to avoid damge to a surface, which may show in the finished product.